Improved mosquito-guard for bedsteads



XLPETERS. PHOTO-LITHOGRAPNER, WASHINGTONy D C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

A. I). PUFFER, OF SOMERVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVED MOSQUITO-GUARD FOR BEDSTEADS.

Specilication forming part of Letters Patent No. 54,595, dated May 8, 1866.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it knowi'i that I, A. D. PUFFER, of Somerville, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improved Mosquito-Guard for Bedsteads; and I do hereby declare that the following, taken in connection with the drawing which accompanies and forms part of this specification, is a description of m yinvention sufficient to enable those skilled in the art to practice it.

The object of the invention is to provide an inexpensive, simple, and efficient mosquitoguard to be attached to bedsteads for the protection of the head and upper portion of the body of the sleeper.

The common and well-known mosquito c'auopy, which is hung from the ceiling and so as to extend wholly over the bedstead, is altogether too expensive for very extensive adoption, and it is not a reliable guard, as its area is so large that there are almost always open spaces along the edge where mosquitoes can enter, and those lodged about the bedstead are liable to be inclosed by the canopy instead of being shut out from the bed. Other methods have been devised, but this arrangement is the only one that is much in use.

To Iaccomplish the purpose of' my invention I employ a frame made of a series of curved bars hinged together, not unlike the frame of a chaise-top, over which I stretch a netting or gauze, this frame being so applied to the bedstead that while one side of the netting extends down in front of the head-board to or behind the pillows the frame when open holds its covering distended over and around the head of the sleeper, the lower bar being held `just above the bed-clothes and a fringeor loose netting or border pending from it, entering and lling the irregularities in the bed-clothes and effectually preventing entrance of mosquitoes under the edges of the netting. It is this construction that constitutes the invention.

The drawing represents abedstead having the invention applied thereto.

a a denote a series of bars, bows, or stretchers, jointed together at b, and having a gauze covering or netting, c, extended over and fastened to them, so that when applied to the bedstead, as seen in the drawing, the lower bar is held by the netting just over but not in contact with the person. The upper bar is stationary with respect to the bedstead, being xed tothe head-board or posts thereof in any suitable manner, and a piece of netting is stretched across it, the lower edge extending down behind the pillow, as seen in the drawing. From the lower bar a fringe or loose netting, c, drops and fills the spaces between the bar and the irregular surface of the bedding. The frame made by the bars and their covering is preferably so constructed as to surround the head and breast of the occupant of the bed, and by such arrangement the protection can be made reliable, while if any mosquitoes get inside of the frame when it is raised, they may be easily driven therefrom, whereas, with the large canopy hung from the ceiling it is oftentimes quite impossible in the night to drive mosquitoes from the inside of the canopy if they eect an entrance.

N ow I am aware that a bow or bar has been attached to the head-board of bedstead, standing out inclined therefrom, for the suspension of a netting to extend over the whole bed but in my arrangement I extend the gauze over the series of bows, so lthat the protector is held distended over the series of bars, the lower one extending down nearly to the beddin g, thus permitting the employment of a small frame and a minimum surface of netting, as the netting cannot approach or come in contact with the face, the bars keeping it away therefrom. The bars fold together against the head-board, and the netting is all folded with and by simply raising the bars, there being no large surface of loose netting to fold together, as in other guards.

I claim- The arrangement of the netting over the bars or stretched bows, and so as to be distended by them around the head, a loose fringe or border of netting pending from the lower bar, and the frame being attached to the headboard of the bedstead, substantially as shown and described.

A. D. PUFFER,

Witnesses J. B. OEosBY, F. GoULD. 

